Another memorable feature was the introduction of replayability through an in-game Gypsy fortune telling session which randomly determined certain plot elements. Strahd is notable for his then innovative combination of monster and character, and design to be able to use his powers and environment in combination to make him very difficult to kill. Ī very memorable villain, Count Strahd von Zarovich, who has become one of the most infamous in D&D history. The innovative isometric projection map of Castle Ravenloft is fondly remembered by a generation from a time when most module maps were just two dimensional. The adventure builds atmosphere by having all the text designated to be read to players written in the style of gothic horror.
The classic Gothic fiction setting that in tightly woven plot showed for the first time how the horror genre could be used in D&D. It was exceedingly popular among players and Dungeon Masters for a number of reasons. Ravenloft won the 1984 Strategists' Club Award for Outstanding Play Aid. Vampyr was still in draft form when Tracy went to work for TSR he sold it to TSR to help pay his relocation expenses. Tracy Hickman had been writing it with the intention of publishing through his company Daystar West. The module was tested every Halloween for five years before it was printed. The module originally had a working title Vampyr. Along the way, the adventurers encounter zombies, wolves, ghouls, ghosts and the far deadlier occupants of Castle Ravenloft itself. The master of the castle, Strahd, rules the terrified townspeople with an iron fist, but he holds the key to the player's escape from Barovia.
Because of this fog no one, except a few Gypsies who have a potion to cancel the fog's effects, have left Barovia for centuries. A party of adventurers called to Barovia, a country composed of a small town and surrounding forest overlooked by a massive cliffside castle, and surrounded by a magical choking fog that kills anyone who leaves.
The plot is loosely based on the section of the original Dracula set in Count Dracula's homeland but also drew on other depictions of Dracula and other vampires in popular fiction. The premise of writing this adventure was to take a classic monster, the vampire, which had been so overused as to become trite and mundane and make it frightening again. Maps of the castle Ravenloft were found on the inside of both covers. The outer (glossy) side of the inner cover gave a map of the lands of Barovia where Castle Ravenloft and the village of Barovia are located. The outer cover was a display cover in keeping of the style of Dungeons & Dragons module covers of the time. The format of the original Ravenloft is a 32 page book with a double unattached cover. 3.1 Ravenloft II: House on Gryphon Hill.
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